Machine for relasting shoes and slippers



May 20, 1947-y `.1. GREENHALGH 2,420,948

MACHINE FOR BELASTING SHOES AND SLIPPERS Filed NOV. 14, 1945 Wwf/vrom Jqnfs kff/v//mof/ @Trae/vm Patented May 20, 1947 UNH@ ,inps

MACHNE FR BELASTING SHOES ANI) SLIPPERS .lames Grecnhalgh, Burnley, England, assigner to Lambert Howarth and Sons Limited, Waterfoot,

Lancaster, England Application November 14, 1945, Serial No. 628,584 lin Great Britain November 22, 1944 4 Claims. l

This invention relates to machines for relasting shoes or slippers (hereinafter referred to as ShOSS), having a relatively soit or exible sole and an upper of leather, felt or the like7 and more particularly to improvements in machines for such purpose of the kind in which the shoe or slipper is held between a stationary clamping jaw engaging the inside of the sole in the vicinity of the heel and a clamping jaw actuated by a treadle engaging the outer surface of the sole nearer to the toe, the actuation of the treadle also actuating a wedge or lever to force the toe or front portion of the last into the toe of the shoe.

When using such a machine considerable skill is required and considerable time is occupied by the operator in manually manipulating the toe portion of the upper of the shoe to cause it to adapt itself to the shape of the last and to ensure that there are no wrinkles or creases in the surface of the toe portion of the nishe'd shoe.

1Furthermore with such a machine it is possible for the last to become twisted into an undesired. position in the shoe thereby giving an unpleasing appearance to the shoe and the lever or wedge actuating the toe portion of the last imparts a considerable pressure on the back seam of the shoe tending to burst it and also an undesirable pressure on the side seams thereof.

One object of the present invention is to pro- Vide means which will reduce or eliminate the manual manipulation of the toe portion of the upper necessary to obtain the desired appearance of the finished shoe and a further object of the invention is to prevent any tendency of the toe portion of the last to become twisted in relation to the shoe when forced in by the wedge and to prevent the wedge from exerting pressure on the back seam and excessive pressure on the side seams ofthe shoe.

According to the invention a wire, cord or the like is adapted to be passed round the toe o1" the shoe where the sole adjoins the upper, one end of the wire, cord or the like being anchored to a stationary part of the machine and the other end being connected to a pivoted lever whereby when the lever is operated the wire, cord or the like will be pulled taut around the toe of the shoe along the junction of the sole and upper and force the toe onto the toe portion o-f the last thereby accurately reproducing the shape of the toe and smoothing out wrinkles and creases.

The pivoted lever to which the end oi the wire, cord or the like is attached Ipreferably carries a pawl working over a fixed rack or ratchet to hold the wire, cord or the like taut after the lever has been operated to allow the operator to make any small manipulations on the upper of theY shoe should such be necessary.

Unless the toe portion of the last is correctly positioned in the shoe and no undue pressure is exerted by the Wedge on the seams thereof, the advantages obtained by the use of the aforesaid wire, cord or the like would not be fully realised and as hereinbeiore indicated a second feature of the invention consists in means for preventing twisting of the toe portion of the last in relation to the shoe when the pressure of the wedge is applied and for preventing the wedge from exerting undue pressure on the back and side seams of the shoe. According to this feature of the invention the machine is provided with a stationary arm or jaw carrying one or more prongs which engage the inner face of the heel portion of the sole, a pivoted jawy actuated by a treadle which engages the outer surface of the heel portion of the sole in a corresponding position to that engaged by the prongs and a fixed support against which the outer surface of the sole near the toe is pressed when the pivoted jaw is actuated by the treadle to clamp the shoe in position, the latter being thus rmly held when the lever or wedge is operated thereby preventing any movement being imparted to the last and also removing any strain from the back or side seams of the shoe or slipper.

The invention is illustrated in and will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. l is a side elevation of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation drawn to a larger scale showing a shoe and last in position with the wire, cord or the like pulled taut around the toe,

Fig. 4 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow li, Fig. 3. Y

The machine is constructed with a stationary arm or jaw A carrying a number of prongs a on its face, a second stationary arm B having a surface b at such a distance above the prongs a that when the latter engage the inside of the sole of a shoe C, the surface b will be in contact with the outer surface of the toe portion of the sole.

A pivoted jaw D operate-d from the treadle Dl through the wire', cord or the like d, pivoted lever d1 and link d2 is adapted to be brought into engagement withtheouter surface of the heel portion of the sole of the shoe B in a position corresponding to the position of the prongs a..

An inclined or wedge shaped member E is mounted on the upper end of a rodE1 carried in bearings e and e1 and carries a collar e2 to which an end of the pivoted lever d1 is connected so that the depression of the treadle D1 raises the wedge shaped member E simultaneously with the movement of the jaw D.

The upper face of the member E is inclined to correspond with the inclination ofthe rear surface of the last F which is inserted into the toe of the shoe C and the member E before being raised, i. e., when in the position shown in the drawings, is immediately above the stationary jaw A. A spring d3 connected to the pivoted jaw D and a spring e3 connected to the collar e2 returns the jaw D and the wedge shaped member E to their original positions when pressure is removed from the treadle D1.

A wire, cord or the like G, hereinafter referred to as the wire G, is axed at one end g to a stationary part of the frame of the machine and the other end is aixed at g1 to a lever G1 pivoted on the frame at y2. The Wire G is of sufficient length to pass over the toe of the shoe C when the lever G1 is in its uppermost position. The lever G1 carries a tooth or pawl g3 which engages ratchet teeth h on a stationary rack or ratchet H aixed to a stationary part of the machine such as the bracket H1 carrying the stationary arm B. Thus when the lever G1 is moved downwards it will be held in any desired position by the engagement of the tooth or pawl g3 with one of the ratchet teeth h. The lever G1 is preferably sufficiently resilient that the too-th or pawl g3 can be released from the ratchet teeth h by a lateral pressure on the handle g4 on the end of the lever. if desired however the tooth or pawl g3 may be spring controlled.

For the relasting of the shoe C the last EV is placed in the toe of the shoe and the shoe and last are then placed over the memberA E and stationary jaw A with the rear of the last resting on the inclined surface of the member E as shown in Fig. 3. When the shoe C and last F are in this position the prongs a on the jaw A are located substantially centrally of the inside of the heel o f the shoe and the. outer surface of the toe portion of the sole of the shoe is in contact with the surface b of the stationary arm B. The treadle D1 is then depressed causing the pivoted jaw D to engage the outer surface of the heel of the shoe to be pressed on to the prongs a of the fixed jaw A as shown in Fig. 3 and the wedge shaped member E to rise and force the last F into its nal position in the toe of the shoe. The pressure of the pivoted jaw D on the heel of the Shoe also causes the toe portion of the latter to be pressed against the surface b of the stationary arm B, the shoe being thus firmly held by jaws A and D and the surface bL and any twisting movement being prevented by the prongs a. Moreover since this clamping action and the prongs a prevent the rear of the shoe being forcedl against the underside of the jaw A there is no tendency for the rear or side seam ofthe shoe to' burst.

After' the treadle D1 has been operated to force the last F into the toe of the shoe C and whilst the pressure on the treadle is maintained, the wire G is passed around the toe of the shoe where the sole thereof joins the upper, i. e., the position shown in the drawings. The leverl G1 is then depressed to pull the wire G taut and the upper is thereby pulled down onto the last F and all or most of the Wrinkles and creases removed. Should any manipulation be necessary to remove conmletely the Wrinkles and creases, this can be done whilst the wireL is held taut by the engage- 4 ment of the tooth or pawl g3 with a tooth lz, on the rack H.

I claim:

l. In a machine of the kind referred to for relasting shoes having soles and uppers the combination with a shoe support and wedge means for forcing a last into the toe portion of the shoe of a wire anchored at one end to a stationary part of the machine and adapted to be passed around the toe portion of the shoe and a pivoted lever to which the other end of the Wire is attached the wire being adapted to be passed around the toe of the shoe whereby on the lever being operated the wire will be pulled taut around the said toe along the junction of the sole and upper and force the toe onto the toe portion of the last thereby reproducing the shape of the said toe portion and smoothing out wrinkles and creases.

2. In a machine of the kind referred to for relasting shoes having soles and uppers the combination with a shoe support and wedge means for forcing a last into the toe portion of the shoe of a Wire anchored at one end to'a stationary part of the machine and adapted to be passed around the toe portion of the shoe and a pivoted lever to which the other end of the wire is attached the wire being adapted to be passed around the toe of the shoe whereby on the lever being operated the wire will be pulled taut around the said toe along the junction of the sole and upper and force the toe onto the toe portion of the last thereby reproducing the shape of the said toe portion and smoothing out wrinkles and creases, a pawl carried by the levers and a fixed rack over which the pawl works whereby when the wire has been pulled taut the lever can be maintained in the desired position.

3. A machine of the kind referred to relasting shoes having soles and uppers comprising in combination a stationary jaw which supports the shoe, prongs carried by the stationary jaw to engage the inner surface of the heel portion of the shoe, a pivoted jaw to engage the outer surface of the heel portion of the sole, a treadle for actuating the pivoted jaw, a Xed support against which the outer surface of the sole near the toe is pressed when the pivoted jaw is actuated by the treadle, means actuated by the treadle to force a last inside the shoe into the toe portion of the shoe, a Wire anchored at one end to a stationary part of the machine and adapted to be passed round the toe portion of the shoe and a pivoted lever to which the other end of the wire is attached the wire being adapted to be passed around the toe of the shoe whereby on the lever being operated the wire will be pulled taut around the said toe along the junction of the sole and upper and force the toe onto the toe portion of the last thereby reproducing the shape of the said toe portion and smoothing out wrinkles and creases'.

4. A machine of the kind referred to for relasting shoes having soles and uppers comprising in combination a stationary jaw which supports the shoe, prongs carried by the stationary jaw to engage the inner surface of the heel portion of the shoe, a pivoted jaw to engage the outer surface of the heel portion of the sole, a treadle for actuating the pivoted jaw, a fixed support against which the outer surface of the sole near the toe is pressed when the pivoted jaw is actuated by the treadle, means actuated by the treadle to force a last inside the shoe into the toe portion of the shoe, a Wire anchored at one end to a stationary part of the machine and adapted to be passed round the toe portion of the shoe and a pivoted lever to which the other end of the wire is attachedthe wire being adapted to be passed round the toe of the shoe whereby on the lever being operated the` wire will be pulled taut around the said toe along the junction of the sole and upper and force the toe onto the toe portion of the last thereby reproducing the shape of the said toe portion and smoothing out wrinkles and creases and a pawl carried by the lever and a xed rack over which the pawl works whereby when the Wire has been pulled taut the lever can be maintained in the desired position. JAMES GREENHALGH.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date La Chapelle Nov. 2'1, 1911 Ashworth Mar. 19, 1940 

